Blog post #8 last but not least

People underestimate the power of influence of those in an authoritative position.   Most people do not realize that they too can be persuaded to do things that they would normally not do under the right circumstances.  We would all like to think we would do the right thing but these studies show us otherwise.    We are doomed to repeat history if we do not remember the past.  We need to teach our children to be free thinkers and not to blindly obey those in authority over us.  They should respect but question and learn to trust their gut instinct of what is right and wrong.  I recall seeing a bumper sticker as a young girl and it has stuck with me all these years, it simply read, “Question authority.”  Up until that point in time it had never occurred to me that that was even an option. I was taught as a child to obey those over me.  It was a light bulb moment for me.  There are many lessons to be learned and remember from these studies but one of the most important I think is to never degrade or demoralize yourself by following the instructions of someone else.  Always make sure that the decisions you make are decisions you can live with for the rest of your life.

                                                                                                                                                

Blog post #7

I have flown a total of three times in my life.  I hate it.  I hate everything about it.  Each time reaffirms even more why I hate.  I think I am going to die every time I fly.  My first experience flying was a work related trip to Florida.  My phobia at this time was not near as strong as it is now.  I think it is stronger due to the fact I know what to expect and back then I did not.  We recently took a trip to Disney World.  I had the bright idea to fly out of Weyers Cave airport so we would get free parking (inside joke) and be just fifteen minutes away from home.  I knew it was going to be a smaller plane and I was ok with that.  I had ridden a similar one on my first trip.  I should have known what to expect by the writing on the side of the plane.  “Begin with the end in mind” was scrawled beautifully across the front side of the plane so as you entered you could not miss it.  Not the sort of thing you want to read on the side of your plane, it might be ok if you are reading the Stephen Covey book on the plane.  But, not on the plane that is carrying my body.  It was a horrible ride with what my husband called “mild turbulence.”  I told him if that was mild I don’t want to ever feel major turbulence.  I thought for sure I was going to have a panic attack.  The stewardess kept coming back to check on me, I must have been as white as a sheet.  I know my knuckles were white as I was digging into the chair arms and holding on for dear life.  The book says generalized anxiety disorders mellow around age 50, I don’t see that happening. 

Blog post #6

An eye witness to a crime can be swayed by suggestive language either by other witnesses or also by law enforcement officers that can create memory construction.  Their testimony can also be wrong due to stress especially if the perpetrator is carrying a weapon. Their focus is more intent on the weapon that they are not really focusing on the person in front of them.  Some witnesses feel compelled or intimidated   to identify a perpetrator that they may incorrectly pick someone even if they are not completely sure due to the pressure. The professor incorporated false memories for some in the class when he made the suggestion that the burglar had a strong chin.

I think that jurors will still probably on eyewitness testimony especially if it is accompanied by other compelling evidence.  I think it is just human nature to believe that someone could not identify the person that was standing before them. The percentage of those that identified incorrectly was low enough that with the other evidence they should feel comfortable with the identification as with the woman at the end of the video. 

In the Lost Daughter I think that for Donna the power of suggestion, her trust in the professionals and the desire to please others was so overwhelming that sadly being so young and impressionable she succumbed to the pressure placed on her by the therapist.

                                                                                                                                                               

Blog post #5

A few weeks ago I attended the Richmond Science Museum with my daughter.  As soon as I read the shaping behavior text I knew exactly what my blog would be about.   One of the attractions at the museum was “rat basketball.”  Yes you heard me right, rat basketball.  The lady in charge explained exactly how they taught the rats to play.  I wish now I had listened more intently.  I do recall her saying that it took a few weeks and went very slow even though they used continuous reinforcement.   The training was done in several small stages using food as a positive reinforcer.  Once the rats mastered one skill they moved onto the next step.  Soon the rat learned to associate putting the ball though the hoop with getting food.  This is an example of operant conditioning and is similar to the example in the book where the rat steps on the bar to get food.  The trainer did say that not all of the rats were successful at associating their behavior with getting a treat.  Their training was stopped after several unsuccessful attempts.   I guess in this instance of the law of effect the favorable consequence was not enough to alter the rats behavior.   

The first link below is a YouTube of the rats playing basketball and the second link is of dogs learning to drive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBWw-VMHWnA

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/2012/12/13/what-is-operant-conditioning-and-how-does-it-explain-driving-dogs/

 

 

 

 

Blog post #4

I think John Q was definitely emotionally justified for his actions.  However, as a parent I do not think his actions were morally justifiable.  What parent hasn’t wanted to right a wrong done to their child?  But what a world of chaos we would live in if we all practiced this type of vigilantly justice.  I did not have a clear understanding if by putting the son’s name on the list if this would then bump the next legitimate person down. If so then this would make his actions even more wrong in my eyes because he has just affected another innocent person’s life.

  Although I was cheering for him during the movie I would have to say that I definitely would be classified as having the conventional stage of thinking.  What he did was against the law.  At the point he decided to break the law his moral compass was similar to the hospital and insurance companies.  He did not have the right to traumatize the people in the hospital as he did; they were as innocent as his son.  The officer that he injured and ridiculed was only doing this job to protect the people.  I am unable to justify his actions even when I try to view it from the postconventional perspective.  He was not doing something that was his right or that was based on an ethical principle. He was acting merely on emotion and adrenalin.

                                                                                 

Blog #3

I have had the good fortune to have three beautiful children.  Two are from my previous marriage. They are 25 and 30 years old, my first born was a son and the baby was a girl and she remained the baby for some 17 years.

  I would definitely say that as a young mother in her twenties (I just gave away my age, didn’t I?) I parented using the authoritarian style and very often used the phrase “because I said so.”  Ours was a single parent household.   Looking back now I can see that I was probably too strict at times.  My decision on my parenting style came from two major factors.  I came from a household where there were really no rules but desperately wanted and needed them as a child. Secondly being a single mother of a boy I feared losing control of him as he grew up.

I wish the book had gone into a little more depth on the participants of the case studies. Although correlation is not causation there just seems to be way too many variable to draw any conclusions.  My two oldest are like day and night.  My son who is now a Marine has never suffered from low self esteem or lacked in social skills. This was probably due to the fact he was a very handsome young man and played many sports.  By the time my daughter came along my parenting style had relaxed to a degree.  However, she does suffer low self esteem and social skills.  I would contribute this more to the relationship she had with her father than from any parenting style. 

As I said earlier seventeen years later and a second marriage baby girl number three arrived.  I definitely take the authoritative parenting style with her.  My husband on the other hand is very permissive with her.  This is his first child and he is wound very tightly around her little finger.   My husband is from a different culture and to be honest I am not sure if this style is cultural or just his style.  We have our own little case study going on.  My husband is taking the naturalistic observation approach.  Pun intended.

Blog post #2

I found the Secrets of the Mind very interesting and mind boggling. I did not quite understand how the doctor felt so sure of his findings after so little experimentation.  Especially in the case of the man with pain in the phantom clinched fist.  I wondered why Dr. Ramachandran did not possibly consider this to be some type of placebo effect. Did the pain disappear due to his experiment actually working or because the man was under a false impression that it would heal him?

  It was surprising to find that the sensors in the brain are not mapped in a particular order as our bodies are put together and when a limb is lost the sensor is re-mapped to the one closest. This explained why the man felt pain in his phantom arm when he shaved, the lost limb sensor was absorbed by the nearest sensory which happened to be his face.

I think that we can rewire our brains.  Through positive reinforcement we can retrain ourselves to react positively to a situation that we would normally have reacted to negatively. With continued effort we can become more positive and happy individuals by changing our thought process. I think for this to happen you have to be very strong minded individual and believe that the change is actually possible because in the end most people do not change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSYloa6QqJo

Blog Post #1

I have always found the topic of nature versus nurture very interesting. My father was an alcoholic and I and my two siblings could be poster children for the nurture side of the argument, but each in our own way.  If you think about either side for too long you can quite convince yourself that they are both correct. The Bible teaches that we are all born in sin which gives credence to the side of nature.  However, Scientologists believe that we are all born innocent and our life experiences within the world shape who we become. I think that there is no denying that genetics plays a factor into our intelligence.  However, nature could be overwritten by a mother who did drugs while pregnant.  If the child was born and later had learning disabilities one could conclude that the cause was the influence of the drugs on the fetus. This does not prove causation was the reason only that a cause and effect relationship exists. As time goes on and more studies are done it is becoming ever more evident that both nature and nurture go hand in hand. That is what I think anyway; chalk it up to my hindsight bias. There will always be examples that weigh heavier on one side than the other but these are nothing more than random events.

 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/nature-versus-nurture-revisited.html